When Evans Mayaka dropped off the lead he was sharing with Kenyan colleague Bonface Kiplimo at 35k in the inaugural Maratón de Cali (Colombia) on Sunday morning, it looked like the five minutes difference in their personal bests, 2:10:00 for Mayaka and 2:05:05 for Kiplimo was asserting itself.
Kiplimo’s increasing lead over the next five kilometres only served to underline that. But, with two kilometres to run Kiplimo began to falter. Mayaka saw his opportunity and with less than a kilometre to the finish, he swept into the lead and raced to victory in 2:11:04, almost half a minute ahead of his compatriot.
Emmah Ndiwa’s distant victory in the women’s race, in 2:29:26 made it yet another Kenyan double-header in an international marathon, but that was far from assured at the onset of proceedings, since Gabriel Geay of Tanzania was the outstanding favourite in the men’s race, as was Helalia Johannes of Namibia on the women’s.
The latter never featured in the leading group, which was already down to three – Ndiwa and the Ethiopians Nigist Muluneh and Adenech Mekonnen – by halfway in 74:50. And Geay was also threatening to drop off well before the lead pack of eight passed halfway in the men’s race in 64:56.
Geay was soon gone, and by gradual attrition, Richard Rop’s pace proved too much for another Kenyan colleague Eric Kiptanui, Daniel Paulus of Namibia, Mogos Soloman of Eritrea and Peter Qambaway of Tanzania. When Rop dropped out at 32km, that left Mayaka and Kiplimo to play out their exciting endgame.
“I thought I had the race won at 35km when Evans fell back,” said Kiplimo. “But, I ran out of energy with three kilometres to go, and I could not respond as he came past.”
An exuberant, Mayaka, who bears a facial resemblance to former world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, said after the race: “I was resigned to second place until after 40km, when I realised Bonface was slowing. It was a great feeling to pass him at 41km and know that the race was mine.”
In contrast, Ndiwa dropped her rivals shortly after halfway, at which point she caught former (men’s) world record holder, 41 year old Dennis Kimetto. She said afterwards: “I didn’t expect to be running alone from 21km, so I focussed on holding my form and getting to the finish line in first place.”
The drizzle for the first hour of the race, before dawn will have been very welcome for the majority of the 11,000+ participants from 39 countries for this inaugural event, as will the salsa bands and colourful murals dotting the mostly flat course around Santiago de Cali.
However, given the 19C (66F) temperature at the 5am start, and the 95% humidity and the 1000+ metres altitude of Cali, Mayaka’s priority now should be to find a temperate sea-level marathon where he can post a time adjacent to that of Kiplimo and forge on with his career.
Leading Results:
Men:
- Evans MAYAKA KEN 2.11.04
- Bonface KIPLIMO KEN 2.11.27
- Daniel PAULUS NAM 2.15.19
- Mogos SOLOMAN ERI 2.17.25
- Jorge CASTELBLANCO PAN 2.17.47
- Peter QAMBAWAY TAN` 2.18.04
- David GOMEZ COL 2.19.59
- Santiago ZERDA COL 2.21.33
Women:
- Emmah NDIWA KEN 2.29.26
- Nigist MULUNEH ETH 2.32.24
- Adenech MEKONNEN ETH 2.36.18
- Helalia JOHANNES NAM 2.37.29
- Alexandra ALDANA COL 2.40.41
- Mildrey ECHEVARRIA COL 2.41.07
- Rosa CHACHA ECU 2.41.29
- Kellys ARIAS COL 2.42.24
